Crush
by DEATHmuse
Summary: Elena asks the question everyone secretly wants to ask. Reno/?


**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters, or anything FFVII-related.

**Crush**

"Say, Elena," Reno said, while leaning back into his office chair and propping his boots on his desk. Elena stopped her furious typing and turned to look at her coworker seated next to her. He lazily rolled his head in her direction.

"Who do you like?"

Elena huffed and rolled her eyes. Not this again. She continued with their paperwork in hopes that he'd catch on.

"Word on the street says it's Tseng."

"Reno," she hissed. "We've really gotta finish this work that _both_ of us were assigned to do, _hint hint_."

"Calm down, Rookie," the redhead drawled. He flung his hand haphazardly in the air. "Everyone's out doin' fieldwork and won't be back 'til later. No need to rush. Lighten up." He placed his hands behind his head. "So who do you like?"

"We're not doing this again."

"It's Tseng, isn't it? You can tell me, ya know."

The blonde groaned and resisted the terrible urge to slam her head against the keyboard. She hated Reno's little guessing game, mostly because the guy had such a big fucking mouth and he made things too damn obvious, like when she threw out Rude's name to get Reno off her back the last time they did this. He started acting a little funny whenever Elena and Rude were around each other. A knowing smirk would form on his face and he'd nudge the blonde or whisper something in Rude's ear that would either cause the bigger Turk to scowl or send a death glare through his sunglasses toward his partner.

Reno probably meant well, she figured, but it was still fucking annoying.

After a minute's silence, she looked at him again. The redhead was staring up at the ceiling, probably waiting for Elena to give in and spill the dirt.

It wasn't going to happen this time. It was unfair for Reno to expect Elena to indulge him when he never--

Oh. _Bingo_.

"Actually, Reno," she began. "I'm more interested in finding out who _you_ like."

There was a pregnant pause, and Elena feared she had crossed the line. But Reno simply locked eyes with her and grinned. "What makes ya think I'll tell you, huh? Besides, I asked first."

"So if I tell you my crush, you'll tell me yours?"

"Nah, I already know it's Tseng."

Elena gave out a cry of frustration as Reno laughed. It was going to be pointless attempting to get any information out of him. She was about to give up altogether when Reno abruptly sat up and said, "All right, all right. I might tell ya... if you can guess."

Elena's eyes lit up. "You serious?"

"Yeah, yeah." He made himself comfortable in his chair again.

"Am I allowed to ask questions?"

"Sure, why not." Reno closed his eyes and waited for Elena to make her first guess.

Part of her didn't think she'd get this far, so when she really considered the possibility of Reno's crush's identity, she realized she had absolutely no clue as to who it could be. She didn't exactly know Reno's type. Hell, the guy might not even _have_ a type.

Looks like she'd have to play this one by ear.

"Boy or girl?"

A smile slowly spread across his face. "Clever girl," he said. "Ya know, sometimes I underestimate you..." She smiled and perked up in her chair. However, Reno stopped talking after that. She raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Well?"

"What? Waitin' for an answer?" Reno chuckled lightly. "Not a chance. I'm gonna make this hard on you and not give you the option... to slim down the options."

"Fine." She chewed her bottom lip as she thought of everyone and anyone with whom Reno had had an encounter. This was definitely harder than she had expected. "I mean, I know who this person is, right?"

"Wouldn't be fair if you didn't."

"Okay. Have we worked with them?"

"Yup."

"Recently?"

Reno sat up and grabbed a paperweight off the desk. "Yeah. Now ya gonna start making actual guesses any time soon?"

"Hold on..." Elena trailed off. This was going to get interesting. She started off slowly, with the obvious choice. "Scarlet."

Reno laughed and set the paperweight down. He scanned the desk for something else to play with, eventually resigning to an unlit cigarette in his jacket pocket. He flashed his teeth and flicked his tongue.

When he didn't say anything, she guessed again, this time making a not-so-obviously obvious choice. "Tifa?"

Reno rolled the cigarette between his fingers and smirked. "She's hot," he commented. "I can see why Rude's into her."

"How about Cloud?"

"I always thought Cloud was into that Aeris chick... Oh, you mean... " Reno thought about it for a moment. He then shrugged and looked back at Elena.

"Aeris, then."

"Cute."

At that response, Elena sighed and focused on the words glaring at her from the computer screen. "Yeah, she's pretty," she responded with a wistful tone, and refusing to let her jealousy get the best of her, she moved on to another guess. "Rude?"

"Fuck, Elena. Really? Shit." Reno put the cigarette in his mouth and let it hang there.

Elena laughed. "Tseng?"

"You'd kick my ass," he replied flatly. "Right?" He winked.

"Maybe," she jokingly replied. Another possibility entered her head. "Hey! Is it me?"

Reno's hands were behind his head again, his feet crossed at the ankles. He slowly looked her up and down before meeting her gaze and winking again. He closed his eyes and smirked.

Damn it. She was running out of people... Her eyes widened and she looked around the room before whispering, "...The President?"

"Rufus?" Reno asked with his eyes still closed. "C'mon..."

She observed him for a few moments before trying again. "Cid?"

He opened his eyes and half-shrugged. "Potty-mouth could be a turn-on." Reno flicked his tongue out again before standing up and attempting to brush out the infinite amount of wrinkles on his uniform.

"Yuffie."

"You're not even tryin' anymore. C'mon, let's get some grub."

Elena scoffed and brought her hands up in the air. "You mean I haven't guessed it yet? Reno, come on!"

He advanced towards the door and turned back to regard Elena when he made it to the doorway. "Hey," he replied. "I said I _might_ tell you... Now hurry up." He left before Elena could yell at him.

She had no reason to yell, however. She got the information she wanted. She was a Turk after all -- A person couldn't really hide anything from one. Elena had been examining Reno throughout the entire interrogation, and instantly knew who it was when she said their name.

...It was interesting, to say the least.

Elena smiled and whispered to herself, "Don't worry, Reno. Unlike you, I actually know how to keep a secret." She rose from her chair and quickly left the room to catch up with the redhead.

**

_2 years and several months later..._

Cloud and his friends were reunited after the elimination of Geostigma and the near-destruction of the world, so they thought it best to throw a little shin-dig to celebrate, apparently. The group invited Rufus and the Turks, though Elena suspected it was just a half-assed attempt at making peace. Still, she found herself on Cid's airship, having been forced by her boss to attend; Rufus used his "curiosity" towards the airship and wanting to see if it was possible to talk business with Cid as an excuse.

It seemed Reno and Rude had gotten somewhat closer to Cloud and Tifa, but save for Vincent, Elena felt no need to play nice with the others. She was only there for Rufus, and rather than come off as rude and indirectly disrespect her boss, she wisely chose to stray off into the ship's bridge to admire the view from the windows.

She was alone in the quiet for ten minutes before she heard footsteps approaching. She quickly tensed up until the person spoke.

"There you are," Reno said, taking a position next to her and leaning against a railing. "Why'd ya run off, huh? Thought ya got captured again."

Elena rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I guess I'm just tired," she half-lied. It wasn't the real reason, but she would have killed for a nice warm bed at the moment. Reno accepted the excuse though and nodded his head. The two then stared off into the distance and comfortably enjoyed the silence that fell again.

"Man," Reno exclaimed after several minutes of contemplation. "Thought we lost you two back there..."

Elena smiled, then quickly lowered her head to hide it. She was touched that Reno cared, but she certainly wasn't going to let the redhead know about that. "Come on, Reno. We're Turks. We're like cats; We got--"

"Nine lives! Yeah, I know." Reno chuckled and turned around, his back now leaning against the railing. He lowered his voice. "Just don't do that again, all right?" Then, to lighten the mood, he added, "Shit, I'll do anything."

Elena scoffed and shook her head. She was enjoying the conversation, however. It reminded her of old times, back when Elena was still a rookie, and Reno kept getting his ass kicked by AVALANCHE so he'd be forced to stay off the field and do paperwork with her, and so they had silly conversations to pass the time in their offices like--

Hmm...

"Anything?"

"Wha?" Reno seemed to have retreated back into his head and was caught off-guard.

"You said you'd do anything for me right now," she reminded him with a smirk.

"Oh." He scratched the back of his neck and nodded. "Well, yeah. Sure I would."

"Answer a question for me, then."

"Shoot," he said with a grin.

"Who do you like?"

Reno's face fell. "Oh, come on!" He groaned and slid down slightly on the railing. "Ya serious right now? Ya really remember that crap?"

Elena didn't answer but simply gave him a strong glare indicating that, yes, she was being serious and no, he wasn't going to get away this time. He sighed and Elena guessed Reno was regretting his words at the moment. He straightened up and looked at her. "All right. Promise you won't get caught by some crazy punks in leather anymore?"

"Promise," she replied with a cheery tone. Reno sighed again and looked like he was struggling internally about what he was about to say. Elena assumed he hadn't admitted it to anyone before.

Finally, after a moment's hesitation, Reno leaned in and whispered the name into her ear, then quickly pulled back and fidgeted slightly. Elena had a sly smirk on her face. "I knew it."

"Yeah, yeah. Figured ya'd catch on," he said, rubbing a hand behind the back of his neck.

"I knew from the get-go," she confessed, and then continued when Reno's face paled. "I mean, when I guessed, I knew. Not that you made it obvious or anything. I, uh, suspected from the start but I knew for sure after watching you for a while after our talk..."

Reno relaxed again and sighed. He turned back around to observe the view with a somewhat somber look to his face. Elena felt a little sorry for him. She realized the unrequited crush or infatuation (love?) might have taken a toll on him with passing time.

Elena placed her hand on top of his arm and lightly squeezed. "But you know, Reno... Why don't you... you know... Do something about it? I mean, what's there to lose? It's not like, you know, you're a bad catch or anything."

He stayed silent for a couple of minutes as if seriously contemplating Elena's suggestion before he responded.

"You know. Maybe I will." He turned to her and winked.

Elena smiled brightly and hugged him. Reno laughed.

--

**Author's Note:** Something random. And I leave you, the reader, to guess the identity of Reno's unrequited love.


End file.
